Pet food compositions must be sufficiently palatable to be consumed by the pet. Besides its ordinary nutritional value after consumption pet food compositions have been used in an attempt to deliver to the pet beneficial agents such as medicaments, prebiotics, probiotics and the like. These are oftentimes disguised or hidden in the pet food, for example in a “two-in-one” kibble having a different textured center core surrounded by an outside shell wherein the center core caries the benefit agent.
We have recently discovered a different type of technology which can utilize the external portion of the discrete pet food composition such as a kibble, solid, treat or supplements or even a “chunk” in a canned food “chunk and gravy” diet as a carrier for the benefit agent. However the benefit agent is not applied directly to the surface of the discrete portion of the pet food composition. Rather, the benefit agent is delivered to the solid surface in the matrix of a film which is physically stable and capable of being expressed on the surface of the physically discrete portion of the pet food composition. In one embodiment, this film is a rapidly dissolving polymer in the oral cavity, particularly in the presence of saliva. In a further embodiment, the film is a material which stays intact or essentially intact until the benefit agent is delivered to the site where it can be effective for example the stomach, small intestine or large intestine. In a still further embodiment the thin film rapidly or fairly rapidly dissolves but the benefit agent can be coated with a different component which allows the benefit agent to be carried further into the alimentary canal, such as the small or large intestine where the coating, if present, dissolves and releases the benefit agent for its activity.